Are We Mistaken?

Is Amber Rudd a Conservative MP? Is Greg Clark a Conservative MP? Is Michael Gove a Conservative MP? Is David Gauke a Conservative MP? Is Margot James a Conservative MP? Apparently they are, but seem to be the variety of Conservative MPs who are intellectually challenged. Rudd is reported to have claimed “that the UK would be less safe if there was a no-deal Brexit”. Clark has reportedly claimed “a no-deal exit in March “should not be contemplated”. Gove said that those considering rejecting Mrs May’s agreement in the hope of securing a better deal “were like swingers in their mid-50s waiting for film star Scarlett Johansson to turn up on a date”. Gauke is reported to have quipped “that it was like waiting for Scarlett Johansson on a unicorn”. Comedians!

So what of their commitments to the Conservative General Election Manifesto on which they were elected?

“We will get on with the job and take Britain out of the European Union. The negotiations will undoubtedly be tough, and there will be give and take on both sides, but we continue to believe that no deal is better than a bad deal for the UK.” (pp. 35-36) .

“Brexit has a key place in the Conservatives’ manifesto which reaffirms all of the Government’s existing commitments on Brexit, while adding concrete pledges in further areas, including leaving the EU Customs Union and Common Fisheries Policy. Here, we take you through all the key points in the Conservatives’ manifesto on Brexit and what they mean, as well as related pledges on trade and immigration.

“As we leave the European Union, we will no longer be members of the single market or customs union. We will seek a deep and special partnership including a comprehensive free trade and customs agreement. We will pursue free trade with European markets, and secure new trade agreements with other countries .

“Legal commitments. Our laws will be made in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, and interpreted by judges across the United Kingdom, not in Luxembourg. We will not bring the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights into UK law. This rules out any continued jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg over British courts after Brexit, as well as ruling out any further role for the controversial Charter of Fundamental Rights in UK law, both vital steps in regaining sovereignty and taking back control of our laws.

“We will enact a Great Repeal Bill. The bill will convert EU law into UK law, allowing businesses and individuals to go about life knowing that the rules have not changed overnight. The bill will also create the necessary powers to correct the laws that do not operate appropriately once we have left the EU, so our legal system can continue to function correctly outside the EU. Once EU law has been converted into domestic law, parliament will be able to pass legislation.

“As well as the Great Repeal Bill, we will bring forward a number of additional bills to ensure that when we have left the EU there is a clear statutory basis for United Kingdom authorities to exercise powers that are currently exercised through EU law and institutions.

“Trade. We will ensure immediate stability by lodging new UK schedules with the World Trade Organization, in alignment with EU schedules to which we are bound whilst still a member of the European Union. We will seek to replicate all existing EU free trade agreements and support the ratification of trade agreements entered into during our EU membership.

We will continue to support the global multilateral rules-based trade system. We will introduce a Trade Bill in the next parliament. We will create a network of Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioners to head nine new regional overseas posts. These commissioners will lead export promotion, investment and trade policy overseas. We will reconvene the Board of Trade with a membership specifically charged with ensuring that we increase exports from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as England, and that trade policy is directly influenced by every part of our United Kingdom. The United Kingdom will be a global champion for an open economy, free trade, and the free flow of investment, ideas and information. We believe the UK must seize the unique opportunities it has to forge a new set of trade and investment relationships around the world.

“Fishing. When we leave the European Union and its Common Fisheries Policy, we will be fully responsible for the access and management of the waters where we have historically exercised sovereign control. To provide complete legal certainty to our neighbours and clarity during our negotiations with the European Union, we will withdraw from the London Fisheries Convention. This provides an unequivocal commitment for the first time that the Conservatives plan to withdraw from the Common Fisheries Policy and the earlier London Fisheries Convention, which will restore the UK’s entire Exclusive Economic Zone to which it is entitled under the UN Law of the Sea. This will doubtless be welcomed byfishermen around the country, who have always been overwhelmingly opposed to the CFP”.

No, we are not mistaken, they put their collective names to election manifestos, but their lips moved. That’s politicians for you!